


What We Owe To Each Other

by jencsi



Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-11-02 06:34:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jencsi/pseuds/jencsi
Summary: Madelyn Stillwell is no fool.





	What We Owe To Each Other

He touched a single finger to her cheek. A single gloved finger, leather fabric against her soft bare skin. He could count all the tiny freckles if he wanted but he withdrew. It was a gesture meant to be condescending after the conversation with her about Becca, it was all lies of course. But he didn’t want her to worry, suspect, get anxious and start having someone from Vought follow him around. He knew how to dispose of such a tail if it came to that, which he hoped it wouldn’t. 

Nevertheless, that singular touch to her cheek started something. It forced her to feel what he felt when she spoke to him. It was just barely enough to not cross the imaginary line they toed over constantly. Back and forth, playing each other like two opponents playing tennis. She served, scoring, then he launched one back, keeping imaginary score, fifteen, thirty, forty, love. Game set match. Then they started over. Another round, another issue would arise. She would ask him a favor, send him to an event, someplace he didn’t want to be, a crowded stuffy hall, up at a podium with loudspeakers, would she believe him if she told him he got stage fright? Unlikely. 

Her stomach did some kind of flip when he touched her, and it lingered. She was enthralled by it, not wanting it to stop. It was like a thousand butterflies flapping their wings, tickling. She was not used to that feeling, unable to suppress the girlish giggle that escaped her when she offered to stay here late with him. The sound made her queasy with disgust at breaking her own rules about not getting close to people, don’t fall for them, they let you down, they disappoint. But he rejected her proposal, something else she was not used to, you don’t say no to her and get away with it. 

Nevertheless, she had to let it go or he would suspect something, more than what he already did. He would ask more questions if she didn’t find a way to distract him soon. And when he did start snooping, would he believe her if she continued to fib and make up stories? Unlikely. Sometimes she wondered if he could read minds in addition to fly and shoot lasers; if he could, she and many others would already be dead. She could not help but grin at the thought of deceiving and getting away with it. No one was that powerful to read minds, and that was perhaps the greatest hold she had over everybody. 

She thought back to a philosophy book she stumbled across years ago at a library while attending an event for the city. The title jumped out at her “What We Owe To Each Other” the dust jacket explaining how the book explored our moral choices and actions and how we dictated which actions and choices were moral and ethical. The book made her scoff and turn away, it was dumb rantings of a lunatic author who knew nothing about real life. People did not owe anyone anything and if they wanted to survive in this world, they had to throw away the moral compass the book suggested we keep. Only fools allowed themselves to get mixed up in such philosophy. That is why it caused her no pain whatsoever to watch him walk away, to watch him leave her office after turning down her proposal. She rose from the couch and continued on with the day. He had attempted to sway her in a different direction but she was no fool.


End file.
